Tee Pee

Melbourne's The Murlocs released two mini-albums in 2012, serving up gnarly surf-blues-garage-psychedelia in small doses. (This was probably to spare us the sheer energy we'd be sapped of if it all came in one big rush.) In recent years Australia has produced a number of retro psych-rock bands (Tame Impala, Pond, King Gizzard, Wolfmother), and The Murlocs should soon be as prevalent as black lights in the bedrooms of the genre's fans. Compared with some of their peers, The Murlocs have a little less bottom-heavy crunch and boogie fever; at times ("Bogan Grove") they deliver the kind of stomping, unhinged furor that Thee Oh Sees are known for. The Murlocs are a five-piece with a killer harmonica blower in their midst. With singer Ambrose Smith's bluesy howl, some clanging guitar work, and that spit-drenched harp, The Murlocs conjure originators like Them and The Count Five. They put a little surf twang into the guitars on "Tee Pee," while the harp-driven pummeling of "Fake Disguise" is exhilarating. "Gutless" is a sexy grind that might draw fans of The Black Keys into the tent. (Er, teepee.) Excellent.